Massacre story needs to be told
10/19/2003
Mike Ware of Haskins, Ohio, a veteran of the Army's 101st Airborne Division who served in Vietnam during America's most controversial and divisive war, reacted to an ad in The Blade last week that promoted the series of articles that started on today's front page.

About the series/The Blade's team
10/19/2003
The Blade's investigation began after the newspaper obtained 22 pages of classified Army records detailing atrocities by Tiger Force. The records of the Army's Criminal Investigation Command were just the start.

DAY 1: Rogue GIs unleashed wave of terror in Central Highlands
10/19/2003
QUANG NGAI, Vietnam - For the 10 elderly farmers in the rice paddy, there was nowhere to hide. The river stretched along one side, mountains on the other. Approaching quickly in between were the soldiers - an elite U.S. Army unit known as Tiger Force.

THE SERIES: Elite unit savaged civilians in Vietnam
10/19/2003
It was an elite fighting unit in Vietnam - small, mobile, trained to kill. Known as Tiger Force, the platoon was created by a U.S. Army engaged in a new kind of war - one defined by ambushes, booby traps, and a nearly invisible enemy.

7 allegations focused on GI from Arizona
10/19/2003
Sam Ybarra sat in the darkness of his mother's Arizona home, sobbing. Once a feared member of Tiger Force who boasted of shooting civilians, he was now a broken figure - haunted by images of the war.

Experts: Earlier Tiger Force probe could have averted My Lai carnage
10/19/2003
MY LAI, Vietnam - Just before dawn, the ritual begins. People gather around stone statues, some whispering prayers, others crying. Every year, hundreds of Vietnamese travel to the memorial that marks the day the soldiers swept into the tiny village before sunrise expecting to meet enemy soldiers.

Primary figures
10/19/2003
Special Agent Gustav Apsey - The lead agent in the 41/2-year Tiger Force case, he oversaw an investigation that utilized more than 100 investigators to interview 137 witnesses in 63 cities.

DAY 2: Inquiry ended without justice
10/20/2003
Seven years after leaving Vietnam, James Barnett broke down. Haunted by the killing of civilians, the former Tiger Force sergeant invited Army investigators to his home to offer a surprise confession.

Vietnamese teen saved by sergeant
10/20/2003
After watching Tiger Force soldiers execute an unarmed villager, Sgt. Gerald Bruner did the unthinkable. He raised his rifle with his own threat: He would kill anyone who tried to shoot any more civilians. The soldiers backed down.

2 officers clashed over the treatment of noncombatants
10/20/2003
The two elderly Vietnamese women were walking toward the soldiers when Tiger Force platoon Lt. James Hawkins ordered his men to shoot. Quickly, another lieutenant, Donald Wood (left), told the men not to fire.